Accountability

Holding Local Authorities to Account

Councils have legal duties to children with SEND — and they don't always meet them. This is how the system is measured, who holds it to account, and the levers you have as a parent.

The national picture

The SEND system in England at a glance (2025). Every figure below is drawn from official DfE statistics — hover the map to see how any council compares.

718,838

children & young people have an EHC plan in England

Source

93.6%

of completed EHC needs assessments result in a plan being issued (2024)

If the council agrees to assess, nearly every child meets the threshold for a plan.

Source

46.1%

of new EHC plans issued within the legal 20 weeks (2025)

Fewer than half of families get their plan on time — and it varies hugely by council.

Source

18,100

young people with an EHC plan are NEET (not in education, employment or training) — 2.8%

Holding an EHC plan at 16 is the single strongest predictor of becoming NEET — strong post-16 transition planning matters.

Source

24,479

schools in England (Jan 2025) — only a tiny fraction are specialist AP/PRU settings

Source

Compare your area

Search for your council and see how its official DfE SEND figures stack up — against the England average, or any other area you choose.

Your area

Compared with

Pick your area above to start the comparison.

The postcode lottery, mapped

All 153 English councils, shaded by their latest Ofsted area SEND outcome. Click any area to open its Local Offer, SEND team, appeal deadlines and full accountability data.

Ofsted area SEND outcome: Typically positive Improvements needed Systemic failings Not yet inspected

Hover a council

Each area is shaded by its Ofsted area SEND outcome. Hover to see its 2025 timeliness, then click to open the council's full page.

Compiled from the DfE 'Explore Education Statistics' service (EHC plans; schools, pupils & their characteristics). Figures come from different DfE releases and cover different periods (SEN population & school counts: 2025/26; EHC-plan timeliness: 2025; permanent exclusions: 2024/25), because each dataset is published on its own schedule — each stat shows its own source and year.

What "within 20 weeks (excluding exceptions)" really means

The law gives a council 20 weeks to issue an EHC plan. "Excluding permitted exceptions" strips out the small number of legally-allowed delays — so the 46.1% figure measures the council's own admin performance. A missed deadline is a systemic failure by the council, not something you did wrong.

"SEN Support" vs an EHC plan — they're not the same

An EHC plan is a legal document a council must deliver. A further 1,284,284 children (Jan 2025) are on lower-level "SEN Support" with no statutory legal safety net. Around 1.7 million pupils in England have SEN in total.

Exclusions — the hidden SEND crisis

9,906 children were permanently excluded in England in 2024/25(rate 0.12%) — and children with SEND are excluded far more often.

SEND children hit hardest

Pupils on SEN Support are ~6× — and those with an EHC plan ~4.5× — more likely to be permanently excluded than peers with no identified SEN (0.37% and 0.27% vs 0.06%).

Falling overall — but not for SEND

Permanent exclusions fell 9% to 9,906 (rate 0.12%), the first drop since the pandemic — yet EHC-plan exclusions hit a record 1,198. The SEND gap is widening.

The AP/PRU pipeline

Excluded children are usually moved to Alternative Provision or a Pupil Referral Unit — which is why 63% of children in AP/PRU have SEMH as their primary need.

Permanent exclusion rate by SEN status (2024/25)

No identified SEN

0.06%

EHC plan

0.27%

SEN support

0.37%

Know your rights: "off-rolling" is unlawful

Being pushed out informally — without a formal written permanent-exclusion notice — is unlawful ('off-rolling'). If a school asks your child to leave, get it in writing and ask whether an emergency EHC plan review is needed.

DfE — Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England (2024/25, published Jul 2026)

Every area's SEND numbers, in full

Real school-census figures for all 153 councils — how many children hold a legal EHC plan, and how many are on lower-level SEN Support. Search or sort by any column.

Showing 153 of 153 areas · 2025/26

Area ▲	Region	EHC plan	SEN support	Schools	Special	AP/PRU
Barking and Dagenham	London	2,361	6,111	68	5	1
Barnet	London	3,906	8,847	175	5	2
Barnsley	Yorkshire and the Humber	2,237	5,103	96	3	1
Bath and North East Somerset	South West	1,897	5,017	94	2	0
Bedford	East of England	1,839	4,983	85	2	1
Bexley	London	2,540	5,775	92	3	1
Birmingham	West Midlands	9,967	33,713	513	31	7
Blackburn with Darwen	North West	1,549	4,401	89	3	2
Blackpool	North West	1,433	3,153	51	4	1
Bolton	North West	3,431	7,504	148	8	3
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	3,535	8,150	117	9	2
Bracknell Forest	South East	1,042	3,379	46	1	0
Bradford	Yorkshire and the Humber	6,055	14,948	231	4	2
Brent	London	2,865	6,119	102	5	3
Brighton and Hove	South East	1,952	6,651	82	5	1
Bristol, City of	South West	4,040	11,907	174	11	5
Bromley	London	3,624	7,789	119	8	1
Buckinghamshire	South East	5,002	13,200	274	16	3
Bury	North West	2,178	4,201	91	5	1
Calderdale	Yorkshire and the Humber	2,568	5,114	114	12	1
Cambridgeshire	East of England	6,386	14,390	312	19	3
Camden	London	1,344	4,837	102	7	3
Central Bedfordshire	East of England	3,338	5,743	135	5	1
Cheshire East	North West	3,905	7,671	179	13	2
Cheshire West and Chester	North West	3,871	7,635	180	16	2
City of London	London	15	449	9	0	0
Cornwall	South West	3,654	11,794	297	8	6
County Durham	North East	4,260	12,371	279	13	2
Coventry	West Midlands	3,029	11,517	128	4	2
Croydon	London	3,951	10,015	155	13	2
Cumberland	North West	2,420	5,619	180	4	2
Darlington	North East	1,142	2,444	48	4	1
Derby	East Midlands	3,103	6,894	118	5	3
Derbyshire	East Midlands	6,393	17,362	452	24	3
Devon	South West	7,151	16,912	424	30	5
Doncaster	Yorkshire and the Humber	2,282	7,109	145	8	3
Dorset	South West	3,308	8,639	184	11	4
Dudley	West Midlands	2,956	7,123	118	9	2
Ealing	London	3,690	6,274	114	11	2
East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	2,712	6,289	160	9	1
East Sussex	South East	3,893	12,090	220	12	2
Enfield	London	3,806	6,899	108	6	1
Essex	East of England	11,806	31,790	611	23	6
Gateshead	North East	1,703	4,695	93	6	1
Gloucestershire	South West	5,899	16,355	339	13	3
Greenwich	London	2,959	8,496	108	7	1
Hackney	London	2,880	6,710	104	5	2
Halton	North West	1,366	3,425	70	5	1
Hammersmith and Fulham	London	1,657	3,726	82	6	2
Hampshire	South East	14,462	28,569	619	56	7
Haringey	London	2,413	5,914	97	6	1
Harrow	London	2,164	4,495	75	5	2
Hartlepool	North East	776	2,736	43	2	1
Havering	London	2,408	5,250	92	2	1
Herefordshire	West Midlands	1,488	4,229	115	8	1
Hertfordshire	East of England	11,459	31,647	588	27	8
Hillingdon	London	3,189	7,128	111	5	1
Hounslow	London	2,480	6,984	90	5	1
Isle of Wight	South East	1,264	2,752	51	4	1
Isles of Scilly	South West	6	35	1	0	0
Islington	London	1,910	4,169	72	2	4
Kensington and Chelsea	London	1,161	3,579	75	3	1
Kent	South East	16,126	37,914	713	68	6
Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	3,056	6,770	106	5	7
Kingston upon Thames	London	1,821	4,031	65	2	1
Kirklees	Yorkshire and the Humber	3,531	10,244	203	11	3
Knowsley	North West	1,883	3,893	63	4	1
Lambeth	London	2,713	5,540	102	7	1
Lancashire	North West	11,771	25,543	703	65	10
Leeds	Yorkshire and the Humber	5,477	23,789	306	10	2
Leicester	East Midlands	3,019	8,036	142	10	2
Leicestershire	East Midlands	7,357	13,938	328	27	1
Lewisham	London	2,544	5,988	98	7	1
Lincolnshire	East Midlands	7,355	15,994	398	23	5
Liverpool	North West	6,241	14,819	191	18	4
Luton	East of England	2,423	5,755	79	4	1
Manchester	North West	7,622	15,319	220	11	2
Medway	South East	3,274	7,337	117	5	2
Merton	London	2,108	4,921	74	5	1
Middlesbrough	North East	1,738	4,171	65	5	3
Milton Keynes	South East	2,417	7,244	124	9	1
Newcastle upon Tyne	North East	2,702	7,393	112	4	2
Newham	London	3,062	7,071	114	1	3
Norfolk	East of England	9,056	18,775	462	30	3
North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	1,533	3,217	74	2	2
North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	1,593	3,510	94	10	1
North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	3,941	7,495	154	3	0
North Somerset	South West	1,979	4,084	85	5	1
North Tyneside	North East	2,164	4,794	82	9	1
North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	4,698	12,065	382	13	5
Northumberland	North East	3,458	7,057	175	11	1
Nottingham	East Midlands	1,799	7,787	119	5	5
Nottinghamshire	East Midlands	4,156	14,995	371	18	0
Oldham	North West	3,575	5,900	128	9	1
Oxfordshire	South East	6,512	21,189	370	13	1
Peterborough	East of England	2,341	5,487	90	4	1
Plymouth	South West	2,267	6,209	107	6	1
Portsmouth	South East	2,121	4,592	67	0	0
Reading	South East	1,279	4,299	71	2	1
Redbridge	London	3,004	6,648	95	6	3
Redcar and Cleveland	North East	1,226	3,696	65	3	1
Richmond upon Thames	London	1,603	5,263	86	1	0
Rochdale	North West	2,503	6,079	106	11	1
Rotherham	Yorkshire and the Humber	3,207	7,905	128	2	1
Rutland	East Midlands	439	1,263	27	3	0
Salford	North West	2,905	8,206	134	3	2
Sandwell	West Midlands	3,436	8,984	134	5	3
Sefton	North West	2,978	7,036	116	12	2
Sheffield	Yorkshire and the Humber	5,079	13,324	191	8	1
Shropshire	West Midlands	2,745	6,589	187	20	1
Slough	South East	1,877	3,879	60	2	1
Solihull	West Midlands	2,046	6,487	90	6	3
Somerset	South West	4,614	12,208	306	23	3
South Gloucestershire	South West	2,608	5,880	125	5	1
South Tyneside	North East	1,341	4,275	64	4	1
Southampton	South East	2,370	5,862	86	6	2
Southend-on-Sea	East of England	1,952	4,248	60	2	2
Southwark	London	2,625	7,974	122	12	1
St Helens	North West	2,049	4,713	80	9	2
Staffordshire	West Midlands	7,978	18,050	455	32	6
Stockport	North West	3,311	7,417	137	13	4
Stockton-on-Tees	North East	2,078	4,904	87	4	1
Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	2,715	6,519	115	13	1
Suffolk	East of England	7,613	15,596	365	17	9
Sunderland	North East	2,240	7,487	125	5	3
Surrey	South East	13,280	29,537	521	37	8
Sutton	London	2,358	4,924	74	5	2
Swindon	South West	2,463	5,296	92	2	1
Tameside	North West	2,834	6,129	110	6	1
Telford and Wrekin	West Midlands	1,796	5,661	86	7	2
Thurrock	East of England	2,105	3,874	58	1	1
Torbay	South West	1,382	2,794	47	2	1
Tower Hamlets	London	4,000	6,338	115	5	1
Trafford	North West	2,571	5,401	102	6	1
Wakefield	Yorkshire and the Humber	3,397	8,555	158	12	3
Walsall	West Midlands	3,414	7,655	134	8	3
Waltham Forest	London	2,914	5,698	87	1	3
Wandsworth	London	2,785	6,168	114	9	3
Warrington	North West	2,020	4,565	95	7	1
Warwickshire	West Midlands	5,858	14,567	286	15	0
West Berkshire	South East	1,929	5,080	99	10	1
West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	4,197	9,125	208	9	3
West Sussex	South East	7,829	21,219	337	31	2
Westminster	London	1,546	4,643	93	6	1
Westmorland and Furness	North West	2,147	4,810	161	10	1
Wigan	North West	3,106	7,829	144	14	1
Wiltshire	South West	5,079	10,996	266	12	0
Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	1,567	4,063	83	4	1
Wirral	North West	4,628	8,470	136	15	1
Wokingham	South East	1,729	4,184	85	3	2
Wolverhampton	West Midlands	2,644	8,244	126	8	4
Worcestershire	West Midlands	6,141	14,142	277	19	7
York	Yorkshire and the Humber	1,494	3,331	73	2	1

DfE — Special educational needs in England (school census) · 2025/26

46.1%

down from 46.4% in 2024

of new EHC plans issued within the statutory 20 weeks (excluding permitted exceptions) in 2025.

In other words, most families waited longer than the law allows. Timeliness varies enormously between councils — check how yours compares.

Three years of decline (% issued within 20 weeks)

50.3%

2023

46.4%

2024

46.1%

2025

DfE — Education, Health and Care plans statistics (SEN2)

Figures as at 2025 calendar year · source DfE SEN2 — EHC plans issued within the statutory 20 weeks · released June 2026 · last checked 24 June 2026. National figure for 2025 is 46.1% (down from 46.4% in 2024 and 50.3% in 2023). Per-LA 2025 figures load at the next scheduled refresh.

Ofsted area SEND outcomes across England

Of the 84 local areas inspected under the current framework (since January 2023), here's how they were judged. Tap a rating to see just those councils.

Widespread / systemic failings

See these councils

Improvements needed

See these councils

Typically positive

See these councils

69 of 153 councils have not yet had a full inspection under this framework.

Who ends up in alternative provision?

5,530 children with an EHC plan are placed in Alternative Provision or Pupil Referral Units (AP/PRU) in England (2025/26). Their primary needs look very different from the national picture.

SEMH dominance

Social, Emotional & Mental Health is the primary need for 63.0% of children with an EHC plan in AP/PRU — versus just 21.4% across all placements nationally.

Academy over-representation

AP/PRU academies hold the largest single share (2,501 plans) and the highest SEMH density at 66.3%.

Lower autism profile

Autism is the biggest national category (31.5%) but falls to 18.7% within AP/PRU settings.

Placement	Plans	SEMH	Autism	SLCN	MLD
All EHC plans (England)	718,838	21.4%	31.5%	22.3%	9.8%
AP/PRU — LA maintained	2,287	58.9%	20.9%	9.3%	3.1%
AP/PRU — academy	2,501	66.3%	18.0%	8.7%	3.0%
AP/PRU — free school	742	64.3%	14.2%	10.4%	6.6%
AP/PRU — total	5,530	63.0%	18.7%	9.2%	3.5%

% = share of that group whose primary need is that category. SEMH = Social, Emotional & Mental Health · SLCN = Speech, Language & Communication · MLD = Moderate Learning Difficulty. The top (green) row is the England-wide average for all EHC plans.

DfE — EHC plans by primary type of need (as at January 2026)

Who holds the system to account

DfE SEN2 Statistics

The Department for Education publishes annual data on every LA: number of EHC plans, new plans, and the percentage issued within 20 weeks.

Use it to see how your council performs on timeliness compared with the England average and neighbouring areas.

Open

Ofsted & CQC Area SEND Inspections

Ofsted and the CQC jointly inspect how well a local area meets its SEND duties across education, health and care.

Read your area's latest inspection report. If serious weaknesses are found, the area must produce an improvement plan.

Open

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman

Investigates complaints about council fault and delay, and publishes decisions and focus reports on SEND.

Escalate here after the LA's own complaints process. Its public reports are strong evidence of systemic problems.

Open

First-tier Tribunal (SEND)

Independent tribunal that can overturn LA decisions on EHC assessments, plans and placements.

Around the country most appeals that reach a hearing succeed — it is a powerful accountability route.

Open

Parent Carer Forums (PCFs)

Independent groups of parents in every LA area that co-produce and challenge local SEND services under a Memorandum of Understanding.

Join your local PCF to feed collective parent experience into decision-making and inspections.

Open

DfE Improvement & Intervention

Where councils fail, the DfE can issue improvement notices, appoint advisers, or use funding agreements (e.g. Safety Valve).

Public improvement plans set out what your council has promised to fix and by when.

Open